Bottle closure disk



l 1935. 1.. E. LABOMBARD 1,999,934

BOTTLE CLOSURE DI SK Filed June 3. 1933 Patented Apr. 30, 1935 1,999,934

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE BOTTLE CLOSURE DISK Leon E. La Bombard, Fulton, N. Y., assignor to Oswego Falls Corporation, Fulton, N. Y., a cor- I poration of New York Application June 3, 1933, Serial No. 674,227

9 Claims. (01. 215-51) This invention relates to bottle closure disks, centrically to the disk periphery, while still reparticularly those of the type known in the trade mote from the annular margin thereof, under as milk bottle caps, as for example, imperforate, which conditions such upward force will be unfiat stifl, resilient circular disks usually made of evenly distributed around the circle of the seated fibrous or paper board, having parallel top and disk rim and will not be sufliciently concentrated 5 bottom faces and usually die-cut cylindrical peat any one relatively short segment or sector of ripheral rim or edge surfaces, such disks being the annular rim to easily initiate the upward usually about forty thousandths of a inch, release of such sector of the rim from its seat, slightly more or less, in thickness; and the obas u y Occurs Where a p D1111 tab iS Secured 10 fleets and nature of the invention will be underto a short sector or segment of the margin 0 10 stood by those skilled in the art in the light of e disk. the following explanation of the accompanying The application of the extracting pull to the drawing that illustrates what I now believe to be stifi, ti tly s a d disk, often eonvexed or d d the preferred mechanical expression or embodidownwardly, even though the Point Of pp ment of the invention from among other forms of said pull to the disk central portion is eccen- 15 thereof within the spirit and scope of this inventrio with respec t th i k P rip y e d tion. throughout its circle in the bottle mouth under- These still or resilient flat closure disks are incut, necessitates excessive extracting force, usutended for capping by being forced down in the ally because the disk must be flexed and arched or bottle months by the fingers or by automatic convexed upwardly by its central portion in an 20 capping machinery, to snugly seat at the mareffort to release the entire circle of its annular ginal portions of their bottom faces, on the derim held down by the und c t ha This pressed horizontal internal annular shoulders of remains true even though a somew a greater the bottle necks with the rims or peripheries of lifting forc s transmitted to t e r m se me t or the disks wedged or snugly fitting in the annuarc radially closest t the eccentric Point O aD- 25 lar undercut portions of the upright bottle mouth plic t o f the extracting force o the disk walls over said shoulders, the disks being prefertral portion, and the extracting force necessary ably slightly oversize in diameter for the particuis i er ed the disk has b eccentrieally lar bottle mouth size for which intended, to atseated in the bottle mouth by the capp g tain a sealing fit. Excessive upward pull or exchinery and said radially closest rim segment or 30 tracting force is usually required to extract such are of the tightly seated disk has been overa disk that is properly sealed in the bottle mouth wedged or jammed in the bottle mouth undercut. to seal the bottle, where such pull or force is ap- This extracting fli u y because of the eXee$- plied to the central portion of the disk at any sive force generally necessary where applied to point or line thereof remote from the marginal the central portion of the disk, is objectionable 35 portion of the disk, whether such pull or force is and troublesome where non-handle disks are exapplied by a prying implement that has punctracted by puncturing, prying implements ap-. tured such portion of the disk, or is applied plied to the disk central portions, and also where through a top pull tab or handle having pull condisks are empl y d having top D1111 tabs s p nection with or secured to such central portion or otherwise operatively connected or secured 40 of the seated disk. to the central portions of the stiff imperforate Excessive extracting force or pull is usually disks. The excessive extracting pull required necessary to extract such a tightly seated stiff under such conditions has, in actual commercial disk, where such force is applied to and exerted practice, resulted in serious complaint, because upwardly on the central portion of the disk, at a of pull tabs giving way and becoming detached -15 point or line remote from the annular marginal from their disks, as by tearing from the securportion of the disk, inasmuch as such upward pull ing staples or by tearing the staples from the then distributed to the entire annular marginal disks, particularly when disks and/or tabs have ,portion of the stiff disk and is resisted by the full become softened by moisture absorption under vI circle of the disk peripheral edge portion snugly modern dairy practices. 50

fitted in the annular bottle mouth undercut under Now, it is the object of my invention to remedy the bottle mouth overhang formed by the underthis difiiculty in a simple, eflicient, and economicut. This is true, even though the point or 'line cal manner, without substantially increasing of application of the upward extracting force to closure disk costs or decreasing the sealing emthe central area of the seated disk, is located ecciency of the disk, or interfering with the free use of the disk in capping machine, and the proper seating of the disks in sealing relation in bottle mouths by such machinery.

A further object of the invention is to reduce to the minimum the extracting force necessary to force such disks from their seats in bottle mouths by a simple provision whereby the relative elevation of the central portion of the seated disk under applied extracting pull is rendered possible to cause opposite rocking of the segment of the rim portion of the disk that is radially closest to the point of application of said extracting pull, to downwardly direct or deflect the seated edge of said rim segment and radially withdraw and free the same from the bottle mouth undercut to initiate the completion of the tilting and releasing movement and lifting of the disk from the bottle mouth.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, hereinbefore developed, my invention consists in certain novel features herinafter more fully explained and specified.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof:

Fig. 1 shows an example of a form of closure disk in accordance with my invention, the disk is shown in top plan, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 2 shows the disk of Fig. 1 in edge elevation.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section on an enlarged scale on the line 33, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, shows, in part, the mouth of a bottle in vertical section, having a disk such as disclosed by Fig. l, seated therein (in vertical cross-section say on the radial line 3-3, Fig. 1), the central portion of the disk being shown relatively slightly elevated and the adjacent segment of the rim portion slightly tilted to downwardly deflect and radially withdraw its peripheral edge, as when the extracting operation has been initiated by upward pull on the lifted pull tab stapled to the central area or portion of the seated disk.

The drawing discloses a circular disk having a flat top face I, and a flat parallel bottom face 2, and a usually die-cut cylindrical peripheral or rim edge 3, forming an unbroken circle. This disk is composed of any material suitable for internal closure disk purposes, such as the paper or fibrous boards commonly employed for the purpose.- The disk example shown can be composed of, say, forty point board, or in otherally followed in the closure disk trade.

The disk is imperforate, meaning that it is closed, when sealing a bottle, against inward or outward passage or seepage of liquid through the disk body, and is usually waterproofed by any suitable material or treatment.

As hereinbefore explained, this stiff disk is formed to be driven down into a bottle mouth of the'internal formation and size which the disk is adapted to, to seat on the depressed internal annular horizontal shoulder l, of the bottle mouth with the disk rim wedged or tightly fitted in the bottle mouth undercut 5, and tightly held down by the overhang or contraction 5, of the internal bottle mouth wall surface, over the undercut, completely around the circle of the disk rim, to tightly seal the bottle.

This fiat disk when thus tightly seated in and sealing such so-called milk bottle mouth, presents the extraction difllculties hereinbefore described, when the upward or extracting pull is applied to top and bottom faces not obstructed by upward or downward projections that will prevent the free use of such disks, in bottle capping machines. The arrangement of the obstruction forming top pull tab 1, and its securing staple 8, remote from the fiat unobstructed flat top and bottom faces of the marginal portion 1), and entirely within said central area enclosed by circle a, permits the stacking of these pull-tab carrying disks in the feed magazines of capping machines and the free and proper feeding of such disks from the magazines through the disk slideways to the capping plungers, for proper seating in the bottles, all as set forth and claimed by the application of Doctor Wilbur L. Wright, Serial Number 592,- 390, filed February 11, 1932.

I have discovered that certain difliculties arose where the extracting force or pull was applied to the central areas of these stifl imperforate closure disks seated completely around their peripheries under an overhang in the bottle mouths, and that these difficulties were manifested by the excessive extracting force required which caused pull-tab breakage or separation, and other trouble where puncturing and prying implements were used for extracting d sks without pull tabs. I solved this problem through the provision of a disk formation whereby the extracting pull or force required was reduced to a point below that at which it became objectionable. This solution consisted in providing the stiff imperforate disk with an elongated slit or incision through one of its flat faces and extending but part way through the thickness of the disk to establish a line, on which a segment of the peripheral edge portion of the disk can be tilted to depress and free or withdraw its rim from the restraining bottle mouth overhang, by the elevation of the central area of the disk under the normal or moderate upward extracting pull of the tab or other extracting means. The seated disk can be easily tilted and extracted from the restraining overhang of the bottle mouth when a segment of its restrained periphery is thus released. By thus deflecting or downwardly tilting and releasing a segment or are of the complete circle of the restrained rim of the disk by relatively lifting the central portion of the restrained disk that diameter of the disk which intersects said segment of the disk rim is, in effect, reduced in length and the extracting operation is thereby initiated, rendering the subsequent operation of stripping the remainder of the peripheral portion of the disk from the restraining action of the bottle mouth, easy under moderate reduced extracting force.

For instance, in the specific example illustrated, I show one from among other slit or incision formations and arrangements for accomplishing the extracting force reduction. In this example, I show an elongated incision or slit ID, that extends down through the top face of the disk but not completely through the disk. This slit can extend through the disk bottom face and upwardly through a portion of the disk thickness, instead of downwardly through the disk top, although 1 disk imperforate against seepage of liquid, and also to maintain the strength and stiffness of the disk for capping and sealing purposes.

Where the disk is approximately forty-thousandths of an inch in thickness, I have usually made the incision or slit about thirty-thousandths of an inch in depth, and so located in the disk and of such formation as to maintain the required disk strength and stiffness for use in and application by cappin machines and for bottle sealing purposes.

The slit is preferably a clean incision made by a sharp blade preferably so thin that the resulting cut will be approximately invisible and tightly closed when the disk is in its normal flat condition, particularly when the disk has been paraflined or otherwise waterproofed on discharge from the disk producing machine.

In this particular illustrated example, the slit or incision I0, is arcuate and concentric with the peripheral edge of the disk and located approximately midway of the radial width of the concentric annular marginal portion b, and hence,

remote from the disk central portion as well as from the disk peripheral edge. This incision III, as shown, is with its ends entirely located within the disk remote from and without extending through the peripheral edge of the disk, said incision ends approximately terminating at the disk diameter that is perpendicular to the disk diameter that intersects the center of the incision and the center of the pull-tab and its staple, as well as the center of the length of the segment of the disk periphery or rim that is radially closest to the staple or point at which the pull tab applies extracting pull to the diskwhen seated in and sealing the bottle mouth, although I do not wish to so restrict my invention from its broadest asect.

p In this example, the arcuate incision is spaced from and arranged longitudinally of, or with respect to, the adjacent arcuate portion of the rim edge, and approximately surrounds and is spaced approximately from one-half of the disk central portion defined by line a, and in the particular example shown approximately surrounds three sides of the pull tab.

when a disk, such as shown, is seated in and sealing a bottle mouth, extracting pull exerted on the disk central portion through the medium of the upturned pull tab and its securing staple, will before said pull becomes excessive to the objectionable degree, cause the central portion of the cap to rockingly elevate because of the flexibility of the bending line established by the incision III, with the result that a segment of the rim portion of the-disk outside of said incision will be tilted upwardly adjacent to the slit and downwardly at its rim edge to withdraw from and slip up free of the bottle mouth overhang over such segment; In other words, the segment of the rim portion outside of the incision is rendered downwardly flexible, and the body or central portion of the disk adjoining said incision and tied to the said segment of the rim portion by the thin nonsevered portion of the disk under the incision, is rendered upwardly flexible.

What I claim is:

1. A stifl, resilient imperforate bottle closure disk adapted to be extracted by application of the extracting force to the central portion of the disk remote from its marginal annular rim portion, said disk having an elongated incision extending downwardly through its top face but part-way through the disk remote from and longitudinally of a segment of the disk peripheral edge to render said segment downwardly flexible under upward extracting pull on the disk central portion.

2. A stiflf imperiorate bottle closure disk of the type substantially as described, having a top pull tab for applying upward disk extracting pull to the central portion of the disk that is separated from the disk rim by a surrounding radially-wide flat marginal portion, said marginal portion having a flexible bending line spaced inwardly of the disk from that segment of the disk peripheral edge which is radially closest to said pull tab.

3. A bottle closure disk, of the type substantially as described, having an elongated incision throughout its length remote from the disk periphery and extending transversely through a portion of the thickness of the disk and establishing a flexible bending line to facilitate elevation of the central portion of the seated disk under extracting pull and resulting downward deflection of a segment of the peripheral edge portion of the disk to initiate withdrawal thereof from the annular restraining overhang of.the bottle mouth.

4. A bottle closure disk having an arcuate incision extending partially through the thickness of the disk and arranged in the annular marginal portion of the disk and spaced inwardly from the peripheral edge of the disk, said incision extending throughout approximately 180 of the circle of said marginal portion, said disk being provided with an oiI-center pull tab arranged within the disk area that is partially surrounded by said incision.

5. A bottle closure disk having a central portion surrounded by a radially wide fiat marginal portion to enter the disk slideways of a bottle capping machine, a top pull tab secured to said disk within said central portion, said disk having a bottom flexible bending line in said marginal portion and radially spaced inwardly from the adjacent segment of the peripheral edge of the disk and surrounding said tab on three sides and formed by a top incision remote from said edge.

6. A closure disk having its peripheral edge unbroken and of uniform sealing thickness throughout the circle thereof, said disk adapted to be driven down in a container mouth to seal the same and being of stiff formation against upward loosening deformation by expansive pressures within the sealed container, said disk being provided with a top pull tab for extracting the disk from the container mouth by direct upward pull on an area of the disk body portion,-

said disk provided with an elongated hingeforming arcuate bending line the central portion of which is relatively radially close-to said area, said bending line throughout its length being spaced inwardly of the disk from the disk edge and arranged between the same and said area and providing a marginal segment of the disk with a relatively flexible hinge joining the inner longitudinal edge thereof with the adjacent body portion of the disk that includes said area, whereby upward extracting pull on said area of the disk when sealing a container mouth flexes the same upwardly and lifts said hinge and thereby tilts said marginal segment to initiate the disk wardly under direct upward disk extracting pull applied to said area, said disk having a top incision extending but part-way through the thickness oi the disk and located in the annular marginal portion of the disk throughout approximately one-half the circle thereof and spaced inwardly of the disk from the disk peripheral edge, said off-center area being located relatively close to the central portion of the length of said incision.

8.A stifi resilient closure disk adapted to be forced down in a closure mouth for sealing the same, and provided with a top pull adapted to extract the disk by direct upward pull on an ofi-center area of the disk spaced inwardly of the disk from its peripheral edge portion, said disk provided with a hinge-forming bending line extending throughout a substantial length of the circle of the annular marginal portion of the disk and spaced inwardly of the disk from the disk peripheral edge and substantially concentric with said edge, said pull and area being so arranged that the shortest line radially of the disk from said pull to the disk edge traverses the bending line midway its length.

9. A stifi resilient circular closure disk having its peripheral edge of uniform sealing thickness completely around the circle thereof, said disk formed with an approximately U-shaped portion arranged entirely on one side of a diameter of the disk and outlined by a relatively flexible hinge line of approximate U-shape spaced inwardly of the disk from the disk edge and joining the same to the inner longitudinal edge of a contiguous segmental marginal portion or the disk to tilt said marginal portion when said U-shaped portion is flexed or arched upwardly to initiate the release of the disk edge from its sealing seat in a container mouth, and a top pull tab applied to the tip part of said U-shaped portion.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD. 

